If a bowling coach told you to step up to lane and roll your best shot with your best bowling swing mechanics, and then asked you how many times you swung the ball in order to throw it down the lane, what would you say? Obviously once, right? That’s what we thought, too, until we visited the training facility of Storm Inc., where bowling coach Peter Somoff taught us about the concept of two separate swings.

According to Peter, a bowling stroke is made up of two swings separated by a pause. To demonstrate what that means, he breaks down the bowling swing mechanics of a successful tournament player and shows how bowling timing and footwork affect the speed of your shot. Using this player as a universal example, Peter explains why it’s so important for every bowler’s bowling swing mechanics to take full advantage of the brief pause in between their two separate swings. Because when you sync up your footwork with your swings you perfect your bowling timing, and we guarantee you will throw the ball faster.

Working On Your Bowling Swing Mechanics

Ball speed is a combination of energy and timing; to maximize your ball speed, you have to generate the greatest amount of energy with your swing and perfectly coordinate your upper and lower body. To achieve perfect coordination and get the parts of your body where they need to be when they need to be, you have to work on your bowling swing mechanics.

Most bowlers don’t practice the timing of their swing, which likely means they’re leaving a few MPH on the table with each stroke. Here’s why: when you have poor bowling swing mechanics and your body isn’t properly synced up at the highest point of your backswing, you’re using a lot of force to bring the ball back down rather than letting gravity do the work. So in this lesson, to help you develop proper bowling swing mechanics and get the most out of every stroke, we teach you some simple tips to improve your footwork, shore up your timing and maximize your ball speed.